44 Things To Do In Your 20s Besides Getting Engaged

2. Build a life that is based on your interests, your goals, and your loves (and not what someone else thinks you should be interested, strive for, or love).

3. Fall in love with your career.

4. Design a home that is a reflection of you, be that a studio apartment or two bedroom house.

5. Find a kickass group of friends.

6. Learn a new language.

7. Become the fittest and healthiest version of yourself.

8. Learn what your standards are and stick to them.

9. Travel alone so you can decide whether or not you hate or love traveling without the pressure of another person.

10. Buy yourself flowers.

11. Actually establish healthy routines and habits that have nothing to do with looking good in your wedding photos.

12. Throw monthly dinner parties for all of the friends who became family.

13. Put together a skincare routine, even if it’s just three to four products.

14. Learn how to cook…like really cook.

15. Keep a journal.

16. Figure out a cleaning routine so you’re not the messy one when you live with someone again.

17. Learn your love language so you can be a better partner.

18. Go to fucking therapy.

19. Try new hobbies so you have an answer besides, “Watch TV” to “What do you do for fun?”

20. Go on a lot of dates for no other reason than to meet someone new. No expectations, just to build the practice.

21. Build a library of the books that shaped you, shook you, and changed you.

22. Learn how the political structure in your country works so you actually know what’s going on.

23. Volunteer and make a difference in your community.

24. Go to movies alone. Eat alone. Do the things that used to make you feel insecure about your singleness by yourself.

25. Keep a list of things you’ve already done like places traveled, accomplishments, random adventures, and then you can look at it if you feel “behind.”

26. Learn what kind of sex YOU like to have independent of what a specific partner’s preferences are.

27. Understand that your life is never going to look the way you think it should, but learn to work with what you’ve got anyway.

28. Meditate.

29. Take one of your historic weaknesses and, like, seriously try to work on it.

30. Travel as much as possible. It’s a lot simpler to do before you have a kid (or pets) and a mortgage.

31. Know what it means to live within your means and then do so.

32. Keep a bucket list (but for your 20s) of places you want to visit and the things you want to do – and actually work on doing those just for fun.

33. Find a self-care practice or a set of practices that work for you and make a commitment to do them weekly. Make self-care a priority in your twenties so you know how to take care of yourself with or without a relationship. Learn how to put self-soothing and anxiety releasing practices like meditation or yoga in your toolbox. Your mental and emotional well-being depend on it.

34. Be the best bridesmaid or groomsman you can possibly be. Appreciate love even when you’re not in it.

35. Learn to listen more than you speak, but understand when it’s necessary to speak up.

36. Find healthy and constructive outlets for stress.

37. Spend time with your parents. Ask them questions about themselves, their lives, their beliefs, their past. Learn from them. Just because you’re growing up doesn’t mean they still can’t teach you something. Your relationship with your parents is always going to evolve the older you get, embrace it.

38. Let people know how you much you love and appreciate them.

39. Figure out your values and commit to honoring them as much as possible.

40. Forgive yourself for all the times you didn’t get it right.

41. Dance a Saturday night away with your best friends and end the night with a drunken heart to heart eating McDonald’s on your bedroom floor.

42. Get lost in your local library and check out any book that sounds interesting to you.

43. Find hobbies you actually enjoy, and not just because it would look cool on Instagram.

44. Sit with yourself. Get to know yourself inside and out. Become so familiar with who you are that no one can shake you because your self-awareness and identity are that strong.

“You are the only person who gets to decide if you are happy or not—do not put your happiness into the hands of other people. Do not make it contingent on their acceptance of you or their feelings for you. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if someone dislikes you or if someone doesn’t want to be with you. All that matters is that you are happy with the person you are becoming. All that matters is that you like yourself, that you are proud of what you are putting out into the world. You are in charge of your joy, of your worth. You get to be your own validation. Please don’t ever forget that.” — Bianca Sparacino